Stage & Studio on ArtsWatch presents the special debut of the Speaking Our Truths: The –Ism Youth Files (IYF) podcast. This is a culmination of a two-year book and podcast project detailing the effects of the pandemic on youth mental health, led by Executive Producer Dmae Lo Roberts. This special five-part documentary series of half-hour episodes features interviews with 20 youth artists and writers who submitted work and were chosen to be a part of The -Ism Youth Files project.

The series is hosted by five of the youth writers and centers mental health and wellness for BIPOC youth and youth with disabilities. Their work (which includes essays, poems, graphic novels, and artwork) is now available as an anthology book available in paperback or ebook form on Amazon.  We listen to them describe the trials they have overcome, including a global pandemic, and how various factors have impacted their mental health and wellness and how they have overcome to flourish now.

The –Ism Youth files book and podcast project was produced by Dmae Lo Roberts with Amanda Anderson and Samson Syharath. Literary works editor was Sandra de Helen and the mental health consultant is Dr. Eleanor Gil-Kashiwabara of Luminosa Psychological Services. The episodes were mixed and mastered by Clark Salisbury.

All episodes feature music by Tomo Singh in Boston, MA. Podcast is appropriate for ages 14 and up. A content warning begins each episode for listeners. Podcasts will debut each Friday on Stage & Studio on ArtsWatch, September 15, 22, 29 and October 6 and 13.

Speaking Our Truths: The –ISM Youth Files Podcast Series

Sept. 15: Host Deandre Avant in the first episode weaves his personal story as a young person navigating COVID lockdowns and BLM protests in Boston during the pandemic. He tells us about other youth around the country and in India who were also greatly impacted by social isolation, learning online for the first time, and contending with their fears for family members and themselves when life had changed so drastically for the world. Hit especially hard were the BIPOC and disability communities. Hear insightful and honest stories about this world-changing event that affected mental wellness for themselves and their families

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Stay tuned each week for a new podcast episode:

Sept. 22: Join host Cara Chen recites her winning poem home • sick • ness that she wrote in social isolation, leading us to a deep dive into the mental health challenges that our youth writers faced as the pandemic continued. Many youth turned to activism to enact social change on the local level as the world seemed on fire both literally and symbolically. 

Sept. 29: Host Jenell Theobald in Beaverton, Oregon discusses the challenges of disability during and after the pandemic as youth returned to school, and how that compounded issues in the pandemic. She speaks from personal experience and also brings in other youth including Veronica Salrin in Greenwood, Indiana and Niko Boscovic in Portland, Oregon who have similar challenges. Featured reading by Fermina Lopez.

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Oct. 6: We join host Danica Leung as she features two strong young women, KyLynn Lucio from the Lower Sioux Reservation in Minnesota and Isabella Santana in Torrence, California, who share their intense personal stories of sexual violence, trauma and self-harm and how they have overcome hardship through therapy and family support.

Oct. 13: Our youngest writer, Mila Kashiwabara, hosts the final podcast episode. We bring together youth writers who speak honestly about the meaning of mental wellness, what gives them comfort, what they’ve learned from the pandemic milestone and how they are still working to achieve healthy lives.

MEET THE WRITERS:

(Writers clockwise from Top L-R: Deandre Avant, Elleanore Celko, Journeya, Niko Boskovic, Roodley Morillo, Janelle Theobald, Erik Nielson, Adrija Jana, Genevieve Arce Basco, Katherine Elliot, Trini Feng, KyLynn Hattie Lucio, Isabella Santana, Keona Burch, Danica Leung, Freya Sticka, Veronica Salrin, Kaitlyn O’Neill, Cara Chen, and Mila Kashiwabara.)

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For more information about the project, the published book or ebook or to download a free youth mental health toolkit, visit MediaRites.org.

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“Taking care of our mental health is important for everyone – and everyone deserves help and support. Whether you or someone you know is struggling in some way, or you just want someone to talk to, this toolkit can offer a little help, support, and connection. You are not alone. We are all in this together. The first step is starting the conversation.”

— Excerpt from The -Ism Youth Files Mental Health Toolkit (in collaboration with Oregon Children’s Theatre)